Demographics of Thailand
 Life in Thailand |
|---|
|
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Thailand, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Population
The 2014 population of Thailand was estimated to be 67,200,000.[1]
Thailand's population is mostly rural. It is concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern, and northern regions. As Thailand continues to industrialize, its urban population—45.7 percent (in 2010, according to NESDB) of the total population, principally in the Bangkok area—is growing. Accurate statistics are difficult to arrive at, as millions of Thai migrate from rural areas to Bangkok, then return to their place of origin to help with seasonal field work. Officially they have rural residency, but spend most of the year in urban areas.
Thailand's highly successful government-sponsored family planning program has resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1 percent in 1960 to around 0.4 percent today. The World Bank forecasts a contraction of the working-age population of about 10 percent between 2010 and 2040.[2]:4,6 In 1970, an average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household. At the time of the 2010 census, the figure was down to 3.2. Even though Thailand has one of the best social security systems in Asia, the increasing population of elderly people is a challenge for the country.[3][2]
Life expectancy has risen, a positive reflection of Thailand's efforts in executing effective public health policies. The Thai AIDS epidemic had a major impact on the Thai population. Today, over 700,000 Thai are HIV or AIDS positive, approximately 2 percent of adult men and 1.5 percent of adult women. Every year, 30,000–50,000 Thai die from HIV or AIDS-related causes. Ninety percent of them are ages 20–24, the youngest range of the workforce. The situation could have been worse; an aggressive public education campaign in the early 1990s reduced the number of new HIV infections from 150,000 to 25,000 annually.
Entirely preventable is the leading cause of death among the age cohort under 15 years of age: drowning. A study by the Child Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Centre of Ramathibodi Hospital revealed that more than 1,400 youths under 15 years old died from drowning each year, or an average four deaths a day, becoming the top cause of deaths of children, even exceeding that of motorbike deaths. Thailand'd Disease Control Department estimates that only 23 percent of Thai children under 15 can swim.[4]
Ethnic groups
Thailand's ethnic origins have encountered significant changes and continue to evolve. The nation's ethnic makeup is heavily obscured due to the hefty pressure of Thaification, Thai nationalism, and social pressure, which is intertwined with a caste-like mentality putting some races at higher social standing over others. Chinese origins as evidenced by surname were erased in the 1920s due to royal decree, the CIA factbook lists 14 percent of Thai as Chinese origin.[5]
Significant intermixing has taken place such that there are few pure ethnic Chinese, and those of partially mixed Chinese ancestry account for as much as a third to a half of the Thai population. Those claiming Thai ethnicity made up the vast majority of the population in 2010 (95.9 percent); 2 percent were Burmese, 1.3 percent others, and 0.9 percent unspecified.[5] Thus, the actual ethnosocial and genetic makeup situation is very different from what is officially reported or self-claimed.
The vast majority of the Isan people (1⁄3 of Thailand's population) are ethnic Lao intermixed with Khmer blood, and they speak the Isan language. Additionally there have been more recent waves of immigration from Vietnam and Cambodia across porous borders due to wars and subsequent poverty over the last few decades, whose immigrants have tried to keep a low profile and blend in.
In more recent years the Isan people began intermixing with the rest of the nation as urbanization (and mobility) trends increase. Similarly, Myanmar has had numerous ferocious ethnic wars between the army and tribes who speak more than 40 languages and control large fiefs or states, lasting many decades. This has led to waves of immigrants seeking refuge or work in Thailand. The makeup of Myanmar nationals is extremely complex – they include people of Nepali ethnicity who escaped Nepal into Myanmar, and then immigrated to Thailand.
Following the 2014 coup, Thailand's Department of Employment released figures that 408,507 legal workers from three neighboring states, and 1,630,279 Myanmar nationals of any ethnicity, 40,546 Laotian, and 153,683 Cambodians without legal work authorization working and residing in Thailand.[6] Some 180,000 Cambodians were said to have left Thailand post coup due to rumors, indicating government figures were an undercount.[7] These statistics are merely a single snapshot and hardly authoritative as there is constant movement and plenty of hiding from authorities.
The language of the central Thai population is the educational and administrative language. Other dialects of Thai exist, most notably the Southern Thai language. Several other small Tai (not Thai) groups include the Shan, Lue, and Phu Thai.
Malay and Yawi-speaking Muslim's language of the south comprise another significant minority group (2.3 percent), yet there are a substantial number of ethnic Malays who speak only Thai. Other groups include the Khmer; the Mon, who are substantially assimilated with the Thai; and the Vietnamese.
Smaller mountain-dwelling tribes, such as the Hmong and Mien, as well as the Karen, number about 788,024. Some 300,000 Hmong were to receive citizenship in 2010.(link rot)
Thailand is also home for more than 200,000 foreigners either as retirees, extended tourists, and workers, from for example, Europe (specifically United Kingdom) and North America.[8] Asians tend to be guest or technical workers in Thailand. A number of nationals from PRC are able to physically blend in after learning Thai claiming to be Thai themselves, but there is also the element of extended stay tourism and retirees as well as condo property is legal for purchase.
Significant numbers of Filipinos work in Thailand due to their English-language skills, as well as technical workers from Japan and Korea. Thousands of Japanese also have retired in Thailand. In recent years there has been a large influx of Russian-speaking retirees and extended-stay tourists in the Kingdom, as well as many expatriates from all continents.
Languages
Thailand is dominated by languages of the Southwestern Tai family. Karen languages are spoken along the border with Burma, Khmer is spoken near Cambodia (and previously throughout central Thailand), and Malay in the south near Malaysia.
The Thai hill tribes speak numerous small languages, many Chinese retain varieties of Chinese, and there are half a dozen sign languages. The Ethnologue reports 73 living languages are used in Thailand.
| Language | Language family | No. of speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Thai | Tai-Kadai | 52,325,037 |
| Khmer | Austroasiatic | 1,291,024 |
| Malay | Austronesian | 1,202,911 |
| Karen | Sino-Tibetan | 317,968 |
| Chinese | Sino-Tibetan | 231,350 |
| Miao | Hmong-Mien | 112,686 |
| Lahu | Sino-Tibetan | 70,058 |
| Burmese | Sino-Tibetan | 67,061 |
| Akha | Sino-Tibetan | 54,241 |
| English | Indo-European | 48,202 |
| Tai | Tai-Kadai | 44,004 |
| Japanese | Japonic | 38,565 |
| Lawa | Austroasiatic | 31,583 |
| Lisu | Sino-Tibetan | 25,037 |
| Vietnamese | Austroasiatic | 24,476 |
| Yao | Hmong-Mien | 21,238 |
| Khmu | Austroasiatic | 6,246 |
| Indian | Indo-European | 5,598 |
| Haw Yunnanese | Sino-Tibetan | 3,247 |
| Htin | Austroasiatic | 2,317 |
| Others | 33,481 | |
| Unknown | 325,134 | |
| Total | 56,281,538 | |
Religion
Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Thailand. 93.6 percent are estimated to be Buddhist; 4.9 percent Muslim; 1.2 percent Christian; 0.2 percent other; and 0.1 percent have no religion.[5]
In addition to Malay and Yawi speaking Thai and other southerners who are Muslim, the Muslim Cham of Cambodia in recent years began a large scale influx into Thailand. The government permits religious diversity, and other major religions are represented, though there is much social tension, especially in the Muslim South. Spirit worship and animism are widely practiced.
Vital statistics
| Year | Population[10] | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) | Total Fertility Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 1 055 802 | 252 592 | 803 210 | 21.3 | 5.1 | 16.2 | ||
| 1984 | 956 680 | 225 282 | 731 398 | 19.0 | 4.5 | 14.5 | ||
| 1985 | 973 624 | 225 088 | 748 536 | 18.8 | 4.4 | 14.4 | ||
| 1986 | 945 827 | 218 025 | 727 802 | 18.0 | 4.1 | 13.9 | ||
| 1987 | 884 043 | 232 968 | 651 075 | 16.5 | 4.3 | 12.2 | ||
| 1988 | 873 842 | 231 227 | 642 615 | 16.0 | 4.2 | 11.8 | ||
| 1989 | 905 837 | 246 570 | 659 267 | 16.3 | 4.4 | 11.9 | ||
| 1990 | 956 237 | 252 512 | 703 725 | 17.0 | 4.5 | 12.5 | ||
| 1991 | 960 556 | 264 350 | 696 206 | 17.0 | 4.7 | 12.3 | ||
| 1992 | 57,788,965 | 964 557 | 275 313 | 689 244 | 16.8 | 4.8 | 12.0 | |
| 1993 | 58,336,072 | 957 832 | 285 731 | 672 101 | 16.5 | 4.9 | 11.6 | |
| 1994 | 59,095,419 | 960 248 | 305 526 | 654 722 | 16.3 | 5.2 | 11.1 | |
| 1995 | 59,460,382 | 963 678 | 324 842 | 638 836 | 16.2 | 5.5 | 10.7 | |
| 1996 | 60,116,182 | 994 118 | 342 645 | 651 473 | 15.8 | 5.7 | 10.1 | |
| 1997 | 60,816,227 | 897 604 | 303 918 | 593 686 | 14.8 | 5.0 | 9.8 | |
| 1998 | 61,466,178 | 897 201 | 310 534 | 586 667 | 14.7 | 5.1 | 9.6 | |
| 1999 | 61,661,701 | 754 685 | 362 607 | 392 078 | 12.3 | 5.9 | 6.4 | |
| 2000 | 61,878,746 | 773 009 | 365 741 | 407 268 | 12.5 | 5.9 | 6.6 | |
| 2001 | 62,308,887 | 790 425 | 369 493 | 420 932 | 12.7 | 6.0 | 6.7 | |
| 2002 | 62,799,872 | 782 911 | 380 364 | 402 547 | 12.5 | 6.1 | 6.4 | |
| 2003 | 63,079,765 | 742 183 | 384 131 | 358 052 | 11.8 | 6.1 | 5.7 | |
| 2004 | 61,973,621* | 813 069 | 393 592 | 419 477 | 13.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | |
| 2005 | 62,418,054 | 809 485 | 395 374 | 414 111 | 13.0 | 6.4 | 6.6 | |
| 2006 | 62,828,706 | 793 623 | 391 126 | 402 497 | 12.7 | 6.2 | 6.5 | |
| 2007 | 63,038,247 | 797 588 | 393 255 | 404 333 | 12.7 | 6.3 | 6.4 | |
| 2008 | 63,389,730 | 784 256 | 397 326 | 386 930 | 12.4 | 6.3 | 6.1 | |
| 2009 | 63,525,062 | 765 047 | 393 916 | 371 131 | 12.1 | 6.2 | 5.9 | |
| 2010 | 63,878,267 | 761 689 | 411 331 | 350 358 | 12.0 | 6.5 | 5.5 | |
| 2011 | 64,076,033 | 795,031 | 414,670 | 380,361 | 12.4 | 6.5 | ||
| 2012 | 801,737 | 415,141 | 386,596 | |||||
| 2013 | 748,081 | 426,065 | 322,016 | |||||
| 2014 | 711,081 | 435,624 | 275,457 | |||||
| 1 Sources:[11]:12[12] | ||||||||
Births and deaths
| Period | Live births per year | Deaths per year | Natural change per year | CBR1 | CDR1 | NC1 | TFR1 | IMR1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950–1955 | 940 000 | 344 000 | 596 000 | 42.5 | 15.6 | 27.0 | 6.14 | 130.3 |
| 1955–1960 | 1 093 000 | 348 000 | 745 000 | 43.0 | 13.7 | 29.3 | 6.14 | 108.7 |
| 1960–1965 | 1 249 000 | 353 000 | 896 000 | 42.3 | 12.0 | 30.3 | 6.13 | 90.5 |
| 1965–1970 | 1 386 000 | 362 000 | 1 025 000 | 40.4 | 10.5 | 29.8 | 5.99 | 75.5 |
| 1970–1975 | 1 371 000 | 355 000 | 1 016 000 | 34.6 | 8.9 | 25.6 | 5.05 | 63.2 |
| 1975–1980 | 1 297 000 | 338 000 | 959 000 | 28.9 | 7.5 | 21.3 | 3.92 | 50.4 |
| 1980–1985 | 1 201 000 | 300 000 | 901 000 | 24.1 | 6.0 | 18.1 | 2.95 | 38.9 |
| 1985–1990 | 1 113 000 | 266 000 | 848 000 | 20.4 | 4.9 | 15.5 | 2.30 | 29.1 |
| 1990–1995 | 1 050 000 | 313 000 | 737 000 | 18.0 | 5.4 | 12.6 | 1.99 | 22.6 |
| 1995–2000 | 955 000 | 373 000 | 582 000 | 15.6 | 6.1 | 9.5 | 1.77 | 18.6 |
| 2000–2005 | 914 000 | 426 000 | 488 000 | 14.1 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 1.68 | 15.1 |
| 2005–2010 | 872 000 | 486 000 | 386 000 | 12.9 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 1.63 | 12.4 |
| 1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births. Sources:[13] | ||||||||
Data | The World Bank
Life expectancy at birth
- total: 74 years (2011)
- male: 71 years(2011)
- female: 77 years (2011)
Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births)
11 deaths/1,000 live births (2011)
Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births)
12 deaths/1,000 live births (2011)
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
Population
The population of Thailand is approximately 67.5 million people, with an annual growth rate of about 0.3 percent. In addition to Thai, it includes ethnic Chinese, Malay, Lao,Burma, Cambodia, and Indians, among others. According to 2010 decennial census, it revealed a population of 65,981,600 (up from 60,916,441 in 2000) and post-censal adjustments are being carried out to see if there was any reporting error.
Age structure
- 0–14 years: 21.2 percent (male 7,104,776/female 6,781,453)
- 15–64 years: 70.3 percent (male 22,763,274/female 23,304,793)
- 65 years and over: 8.5 percent (male 2,516,721/female 3,022,281) (2008 est.)
- 0–14 years: 19.9 percent (male 6,779,723/female 6,466,625)
- 15–64 years: 70.9 percent (male 23,410,091/female 23,913,499)
- 65 years and over: 9.2 percent (male 2,778,012/female 3,372,203) (2011 est.)
Population growth rate
- 0.615 percent (2009 est.)
- 0.566 percent (2011 est.)
Net migration rate
0 migrants/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.06 males/female
- Under 15 years: 1.05 males/female
- 15–64 years: 0.98 males/female
- 65 years and over: 0.83 males/female
- Total population: 0.98 males/female (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total population: 73.6 years
- Male: 71.24 years
- Female: 76.08 years (2011 est.)
Ethnic groups
Ethnic Thai 75 percent, Thai Chinese 14 percent, other 11 percent
Literacy
- Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- Total population: 92.6 percent
- Male: 94.9 percent
- Female: 90.5 percent (2002 est.)
References
- ↑ "Thailand Population 2014". World Population Review. Retrieved 2 Mar 2015.
- 1 2 Live Long and Prosper; Aging in East Asia and Pacific (PDF). Washington, DC: World Bank. 2016. ISBN 978-1-4648-0470-0. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ Dombrowski, Katja (2013-10-03). "Modernity has arrived". D+C Development and Cooperation. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
- ↑ "More parents send children to learn swimming as drowning topping cause of deaths among youths under 15". ThaiPBS. 2015-03-16. Retrieved 28 Mar 2015.
- 1 2 3 The World Factbook - Thailand, CIA
- ↑ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Junta-No-crackdown-on-foreign-workers-30236412.html
- ↑ http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/415847/thailand-cambodia-to-quash-rumours-after-worker-exodus
- ↑ Bickerstaff, Bruce (Feb 2013). "An Attempt to Quantify the Number of Foreigners Living in Thailand". Burning Bison. Retrieved 1 Mar 2015.
- ↑ Population by language, sex and urban/rural residence, UNSD Demographic Statistics, United Nations Statistics Division, UNdata, last update 5 July 2013.
- ↑ "Population from Registration Record by Sex, 1988-2012". Statistical Yearbook Thailand 2013. National Statistical Office Thailand. Retrieved 17 Feb 2015.
- ↑ Kijsanayotin, Boonchai; Ingun, Pianghatai; Sumputtanon, Kanet (Mar 2003). Review of National Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: A case study of Thailand (PDF). Bangkok: Thai Health Information Standards Development Center (THIS). p. 12. ISBN 978-616-11-1913-3. Retrieved 15 Feb 2015.
- ↑ "4. Vital statistics summary and life expectancy at birth: 2010-2014" (PDF). UNstats. United Nations. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ↑ Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. Esa.un.org (2014-04-14). Retrieved on 2014-06-21.
External links
| ||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
